


gold tinsel

by thesterekshipper



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Angst, Backstory, Christmas Theme-ish, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Juke is minor, M/M, Willex is minor, kinda sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:00:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28132059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesterekshipper/pseuds/thesterekshipper
Summary: Willie was in the Molina's home to let Julie know about an upcoming gig, but instead finds a picture that brings memories back.
Relationships: Alex & Julia Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Alex & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie & Willie, Alex & Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina & Willie, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 9
Kudos: 134





	gold tinsel

**Author's Note:**

> this sucks. I saw the headcanon on tumblr and thought "wow that sounds so cool I think I'll write it" and this came out. but hey if you enjoy it let me know :)

This was the first time that Willie had ever been inside Julie’s actual house. Sure, he’d been in the studio lots of times—watching rehearsals, hanging with Alex and his friends, etcetera—but never in her  _ home. _ It felt almost too intimate, as if he was an unwelcomed guest in a sacred space. He was here to find Julie since he couldn’t find Luke. Willie had found them a sick venue, and he wanted to tell the band about it immediately, preferably Julie because she had a real schedule, being a lifer and all. 

He poofed to the front door and watched for any sign of movement in the house before walking straight through. The house was relatively quiet, the sounds of the air conditioning moving through the vents being the prime sound. Willie looked around and called out to Julie. She was the only lifer who could see and hear him, so he didn’t worry about her father or brother coming down the stairs to this strange teenager standing in their doorway. 

Getting no response, he made his way towards the living room to the left of the front door. It was cozy and sunken, reminding him of when he was young. The “sunken living room” was popular in the 70s when he died, and he remembers his mom wanting one so bad. 

He made his way down the steps to the carpeted living room. The house had been decorated for Christmas, the tree in the corner of the room lit up with warm yellow lights, ornament after ornament lining the branches of the tree. He could vaguely imagine Julie getting the boys to help her—making Luke put the tree skirt on, Reggie enjoying putting the tinsel on the branches and asking Julie about her favorite ornaments, and Alex, his beautifully tall boyfriend, getting to put the star on the tree. 

Willie came to a stop in front of the tree. He had to crane his head up to see the top of the tree, where the star was, and saw it shining brightly down at him. He smiled at the warmness of it. His family, although participating in minimal holiday functions, thought Christmas had become too commercialized. They had never had a beautiful tree like this one...Willie wished they had. He didn’t care about the commercialization of the holiday, he just liked that families could come together and celebrate being with one another. He was glad that the phantoms got the opportunity with Julie, especially since their own families had each been estranged from Christmas in their own way. 

He made his way over to the mantle that was decorated too. He looked at their stockings, noticing and extra put out. It was a velvet red, with a rhinestone R in the center. He wondered who it was for, and then remembered that Julie’s dad’s name was Ray, and nodded to himself. He wasn’t going to judge Ray’s choice in color or rhinestone—people liked what they liked, he supposed. He looked to its right, where there was a purple stocking with a cute penguin on the front, a J monogrammed at the top. Then a yellow stocking, clearly Carlos’s, and to the right of that—there was a blue stocking, with another rhinestone R on it. 

_ Julie’s mom.  _

Willie frowned. He felt awful about Julie’s mom, and knew that this would be her first real Christmas without her. He wondered how Julie was doing, and if he could help her in any way. 

As he thought about it, he looked up at the top of the mantle. There were lots of pictures decorating the wall, and he skimmed his eyes over each one. Baby pictures of Carlos and Julie, Ray, Julie, and Carlos all smiling at the camera. Pictures of Julie and her mom. In the middle, a picture of all four of them together, Julie looking happier than he had ever seen her. He got to the end of the mantle, looking at the last picture. It was a picture of a young girl, who looked about three or four, and he looked closer at it, brows furrowing.

He... _ recognized _ her. He grabbed for the picture, using his energy and sending it to his hands, and held it closer to his face. Holding the picture in his right hand, his left pointer finger traced the outline of the girl’s head. 

His eyes got wide as he realized who she was. How he knew her. He...had  _ saved her.  _ Willie gasped. He could tell he was breathing heavier, but he couldn’t focus on it when all he could think of was the girl in the photo in front of him. He heard the sound of the front door opening, people talking, greeting him, but he no longer registered the words being said to him. 

Picture still in his hands, he slowly turned around, breathing heavy and hard. He heard someone, most likely Alex, ask him what was wrong, but his eyes were still trained on the picture. Dragging them up from the frame, he immediately locked eyes with Julie. She looked concerned, eyes soft. 

Willie took a breath. “Is this your mom?” 

Julie’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Uh...yeah. That’s her, when she was like...five I think. Why? Willie, are you okay?”

Before Julie had even finished, Willie was shaking his head in disbelief. He was clutching the picture harder now, and the palms of his hands were in pain. He saw out of the corner of his eye Alex, who was slowly walking towards him, concerned. Once Alex had reached him, he stood in front of him and grasped the frame around Willie’s hands to pull it out of his grasp and place it back on the shelf. He returned to his spot back in front of his boyfriend, who was still looking blankly at where the picture used to be in his hands. 

Alex looked around the room to Julie, Luke, and Reggie for help. When they offered nothing, he turned back to Willie. Alex tilted Willie’s chin up with his forefinger and thumb, leaning his head down to look into Willie’s eyes. Once they finally made eye contact, he noticed Willie’s eyes welling with unshed tears. He led them over to the couch, and sat down, pulling Willie on top of him to wrap his arms around him in a comforting gesture. 

Julie made her way to the carpeted floor, sitting in front of Willie and putting her hands on his knee, a soft and concerned smile on her face. Luke and Reggie made their way to either side of Alex on the couch, placing their own hands on Willie’s shoulder or back. 

It was Julie who spoke. “Willie. What’s wrong? We can’t help you if you don’t talk to us.” 

Willie, who didn’t know how to say this lightly, swallowed and bluntly said, “I died when I saved your mom from being hit by a truck.”

Julie’s face morphed to one of horror, and Willie quickly ratified, “Please don’t feel guilty! I would have done it for anyone, and I don’t blame your mom for my death because it was my choice and—”

From her place on the floor, Julie shot up to Willie’s place on the couch and grabbed him in a hug. She was crying silently, her chin on his shoulder. His arms came up to wrap her in a hug, but slowly, as if he was in shock. 

“Thank you thank you—” Julie was saying, over and over again as they hugged. 

They were both crying now. When they pulled back, their faces were red and their eyes were puffy. Julie’s hands were on Willie’s shoulders and his hands moved up to the sides of her face. They were still slightly crying, but they shared a watery smile and a little huff of a laugh. 

Alex, who was still sitting with Willie on his lap, smiled at the interaction. Luke and Reggie were smiling too, and they were trying to comfort both of them as best as they could. 

“Thank you,” Julie started, “for saving my mom’s life. I’m so, so sorry that you had to lose yours in the process. Thank you, so, so much Willie.”

Willie smiled softly. “I would do it for you, for Alex, Reggie, Luke. And I wouldn’t hesitate to save your mom’s life again, even if it meant losing mine all over again.”

They hugged once more, and pulled apart to see Reggie and Luke’s faces getting suspiciously red. Julie and Willie hit them with a raised eyebrow each; Luke and Reggie responding in kind with an “It was sad!”

Alex wrapped his arms around Willie’s middle again, hooking his chin over Willie’s shoulder and rocking him left to right. “So,” he started, “does this mean you’ll come over at Christmas? You’re basically family now.”

“Yes! Please come,” Julie exclaimed. Luke and Reggie nodded in tandem. 

Willie, more than delighted to join this ragtag family for Christmas, pretended to mull it over while Julie flicked him in the forehead. 

Willie laughed. “Okay! I’ll come if you stop flicking me!” 

With that, Julie, Reggie, and Luke grabbed the bags they had placed on the floor and started unpacking them. Willie hadn’t even noticed them bring those bags in. He was still sitting on Alex’s lap, but now he reclined on him, putting his own hands over where Alex’s rested on his abdomen. 

They rested their heads together, watching as Reggie was putting up mistletoe over the threshold. Julie had gone into the kitchen, and Luke was putting more tinsel on the mantle, this time in gold color. 

Once Reggie was done, he came over to where Alex and Willie were, sitting on the floor, and patting Alex’s knee. All three watched as Luke and Julie crossed paths over the threshold of the room. 

“WAIT!” Yelled Reggie. They both stop, looking at each other in confusion. Reggie pointed up to the mistletoe he had just hung, and they looked up to where he had pointed. They simultaneously blushed and looked away from each other. “You know what that means,” Reggie said. Then he started chanting. “Kiss. Kiss. Kiss! KISS!” 

Alex and Willie had joined in. They were all chanting now, and Luke smiled his puppy smile, and leaned in to give Julie a chaste kiss right on her lips. 

When he pulled away, Julie looked floored. Her lips slowly climbed to a smile, and she looked away from Luke, blush on her face as she walked back into the kitchen. Luke turned to the three on the couch and smiled, giving a thumbs-up before walking into the kitchen to where Julie was. 

Reggie laughed, and Alex and Willie smiled back. Reggie, from his spot on the floor, looked up to Alex and Willie. 

“Hey,” he said, “Merry Christmas, guys.” 

Alex and Willie smiled back. 

“Merry Christmas, indeed.”

**Author's Note:**

> I know that most hispanic traditions don't include stockings and the tree is different than I described it, but I was going off of my own experiences because my mom is an immigrant but she LOVES American Christmas things and so I just kinda went with what I knew so sorry if that offended anyone!!  
> hope that you enjoyed it, and leave a comment or kudos because I love those!!  
> come scream with me on tumblr @babiewillie if you'd like :P


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